The Covenant's Legacy
by The Universal Storyteller
Summary: This story will primarily feature a crew aboard the Covenant going rogue, and their adventures after doing so, led by Captain Dylan Munro. Dylan Munro is my latest STO character, but this takes place before the main events related to it, at least for the most part, so TCL will be under this category for the site, at least for now. More to follow later, as time permits, et cetera.
1. The Battle of T'Karala

It was all supposed to be a mere gathering of galactic parties to participate in friendly competitions of various sorts. But then the Borg showed up, and things changed drastically for many sentient beings from then on. This is where the _Covenant_ 's legacy begins. The story of those aboard it and several other ships will be told. Join us now as our story begins in the midst of a huge battle, roughly thirty years ago. Come aboard the _Covenant_ , young officers fresh out of various Academies. Learn what you can from our history. It's a dangerous Galaxy out there. Listen well.

* * *

 _The Covenant's Legacy: Going Rogue_

* * *

T'Karala System

Milky Way Galaxy

Unknown Quadrant

February 10, 2380

1610 Hours, Ship's Time

* * *

Swinging bat'leths and other melee weapons. Energy blasts and explosions all around. Flying blades, fists, and feet. Assimilations left and right, both in space and on nearby worlds, including various moons. Many starships of various kinds were under attack, some being invaded or in the process of being damaged or destroyed. And with all of this happening either near or on the peaceful world of T'Karala III, a largely jungle and watery world with several hundred million inhabitants of all kinds.

Among the ships being attacked and invaded was the _U.S.S. Covenant_ , and drones were busily trying to assimilate assorted technology and crew members there, but were currently being stalled by armed resistance from officers and members of the crew. Unfortunately, for several crew members, the process of assimilation had already begun, and some were now turning into Borg drones.

Consequently, even though many of the remaining crewmembers and officers hated the idea of having to fire on their companions and friends, they had no choice. Many fell, either to energy blasts or explosions or bladed weapons during the fighting in several corridors all over the _Covenant_.

Dylan Munro was thick in the middle of the fight, wielding a bat'leth near main engineering. He had been taking an off-duty afternoon walk near there when the Borg came out of a transwarp conduit in subspace within half a light-year from T'Karala III, the most populated world in the solar system. Minutes later, the _Covenant_ and many other ships, along with bases or settlements on various other worlds in the system, were all under attack, with dozens of assorted Borg ships participating after separating from a huge Borg Cube just outside the system's heliopause. As soon as the _Covenant_ 's shields went down briefly, the Borg started coming aboard it, and began trying to assimilate its technology and those aboard. The shields were only down for about a minute, but that was still enough time for two dozen Borg to come aboard.

They materialized in various areas of the ship, but were not able to get to the bridge or to the turbolifts that would allow them access to that part of the ship. Within five minutes of them first appearing, they had begun the assimilation process on several crewmembers.

Dylan and several other people aboard were fighting to save as many people as they could from being assimilated, and they were attempting to keep their technology and information from being assimilated as well.

While Dylan and those with him were engaging the Borg near them in close-quarters combat, they were being covered by ranged attacks from other nearby defenders. Dylan gave no mercy to the Borg or those already assimilated, and fought with all he could to defend his ship and those aboard. Slashing and parrying as best as he could, and firing energy weapons, he killed or incapacitated many of his opponents.

It was while he was engaged with three Borg at once that a mechanized arm nearly smashed into his forehead, but before it could hit, it was swiftly severed by a thrown mek'leth from his Klingon first officer Etok Shonkor. Passing through that arm, the mek'leth also hit the other two Borg currently menacing the Captain on the same trajectory, while Shonkor killed the Borg who'd nearly bashed in Munro's forehead. Several seconds later, the other two Borg were decapitated by swings of both men's bat'leths.

It wasn't too much later, led by Captain Munro and Commander Shonkor, that the deck was cleared completely of Borg. The defenders with Shonkor and Munro soon cleared other nearby decks, but also took casualties and losses, much to Munro's dismay. Fighting down to Main Engineering, more losses were taken, but even with more Borg appearing on the ship from other nearby ships that had either been assimilated or come within transporter range, they still had a decent amount of success in defending the ship and those aboard, and the Borg had not been able to tap into the main control systems of the _Covenant_.

Several Cardassians met them at the doors to Main Engineering, including the Chief Engineer Tihum Zevaa. When Munro asked for a brief situation report, Zevaa reported that Centurion Nirun and those currently on the bridge had been able to prevent the Borg from gaining access to it. That pleased Munro and several of the others, and they vowed not to let the _Covenant_ ever fall into Borg hands, even it if meant they would have to destroy the ship.

The ship had taken heavy damage both inside and out, but still was able to fight, and its crewmembers, officers, and civilians were also able to fight. The battle would go down in history as the Battle of T'Karala.

Munro and others left Main Engineering behind to engage other Borg still on the ship, while others remained behind to help defend that area from possible Borg intrusion. Shonkor was close by Munro as he led others out of Main Engineering towards a group of Borg that were battling several security personnel. An hour later, with dozens of corpses from numerous beings of all kinds laying all over the ship's decks, the last of the Borg aboard the _Covenant_ had been defeated. Unfortunately, some technology-related information and some technology had been stolen and transmitted to several still-present Borg ships and surviving nearby drones. As a result, certain things in the Milky Way Galaxy would not be as they were prior to the Borg attack for quite some time.

Hours later, surviving ships and those aboard them saw the Borg finally driven out of the system. Regrettably, before they withdrew, the Borg had managed to assimilate millions of those existing on multiple worlds, but especially on T'Karala III and two of its four moons. They even assimilated a large number of creatures of all kinds from those worlds.

The surviving ships banded together, joined by several dozen other ships that were able to warp in and help. They sought out potential survivors of the battle all over the system, finding very few. They did so for several hours, before calling off the search.

Not long after that, Dylan Munro, among others, was able to reach his bridge. He arrived just as a new transmission came in from the Omega Force Alliance. Captain Munro had it put on-screen so that he and his bridge crew could view it together.

When it came in, several other ships were still entering the system to try and render whatever aid they could. Among them was the _Dragonstar_ , a ship that many now on the _Covenant_ already knew of. The conversation that developed shortly after the transmission appeared on the _Covenant_ 's main viewscreen and lasted twenty minutes did not go well for the involved parties.

Ultimately, by the time that the _Dragonstar_ was in communications range of the _Covenant_ , those aboard the _Dragonstar_ heard Captain Munro and many others near him then on the bridge say, in various languages, to those they were talking to, "We wholeheartedly refuse to pursue the Borg at this time. We are unable and unwilling to continue fighting. Our ship has taken major damage, and we are in no condition at this point to pursue and re-engage them. Our first priority must be to ensure the safety and well-being of those who have survived this attack."

Those who had sent the transmission to the _Covenant_ and several nearby surviving ships argued more with Captain Munro and others aboard the ship, as February 10 ultimately turned to February 11, before Munro made a decision that would have profound repercussions for quite some time all over the Milky Way Galaxy.


	2. Going Rogue

T'Karala System

Milky Way Galaxy

Unknown Quadrant

February 11, 2380

0350 Hours, Ship's Time

* * *

"On behalf of those aboard the _U.S.S. Covenant_ , we hereby resign our commissions in your respective armed forces. We hereby are also commandeering this vessel. We shall not participate again in your unholy quest to bring unnecessary bloodshed all over this Galaxy, but we will always seek to defend the innocent, the weak, and the defenseless. This is our solemn vow and our sacred covenant. Send your forces against us if you dare, but be prepared to lose heavily. Perhaps when all is made right, we can again fight side by side. But until then, we must unfortunately consider those who serve the OFA as potential enemies."

"IF you do this, don't expect to get a new ship anytime soon, Munro," said one of the Fleet Admiral-level flag officers from Starfleet.

"If this is my last official command for a Federation starship, I'm okay with that, Fleet Admiral Stejenn, as long as I do what is ultimately right in the eyes of my Maker to the best of my ability, and follow Him as best as I can."

He looked at his Bajoran Conn officer Pomya Jehm, and asked her, "Are systems good to go for a departure from this system, Lieutenant Jehm?"

"Ready when you are, Captain. Just give the word."

Munro thumbed a switch on his command chair, and opened a shipwide communications channel throughout the ship. "All hands, prepare for immediate departure! Brace yourselves, and get ready to cross the Red Sea!"

"Don't do this," said a Klingon Dahar Master.

"For Honor and Duty and Righteousness, we must! Sezet, close the channel as soon as I give you the signal."

"Aye, sir," said a light blue-skinned alien of largely-unknown heritage.

"Admiral Karettenu, look after my family no matter what happens as best as you can. It has been an honor and a pleasure to know you," Munro said to a certain Romulan visible on the screen.

"You have my word that no harm will come to any of them. Maybe someday we can debate theological matters once more. We are siblings of a sort, but we must now oppose each other, it seems," said a slightly older Romulan female.

"Our quest to do what is right now begins! Stop us if you can, Omega Force Alliance! Captain Munro of the _Covenant_ out!" He immediately gave Sezet the signal, and the viewscreen went blank as the channel closed. "Jehm, part the Red Sea, and take us away from here!"

The _Covenant_ engaged its warp engines, and departed the T'Karala solar system, also disappearing from the sensors of many ships still in it, and world-based sensors as well. The ship was not cloaked, but it still vanished.

* * *

Meanwhile, as the _Covenant_ made its escape to their new secret hideaway, the _Dragonstar_ stayed in the T'Karala system to do what it could for the survivors of the Borg attack, and to search for other survivors. They remained in the system for another week before Omega Force Alliance Command's Council contacted them and gave them new orders. Captain Okeb Zhaalrin, a 59-year-old Andorian, was on the bridge when the orders came in, talking with several members of his senior staff, as they reported about the statuses of the ship and those now aboard. Including his Romulan first officer, a distant kinswoman of, although about three decades older than, Admiral Karettenu, a 72-year-old Subcommander in the Imperial Romulan Star Navy. That first officer of his was Subcommander Thaletha Barom, and she had spent most of her life serving the Romulan Star Empire in its Star Navy.

Other members of Zhaalrin's senior staff included two more Romulans, a Reman, and three humans. It was his young Ferengi Communications Officer who notified him that OFACC had sent him a transmission meant only for his eyes until further notice. "You have the bridge, Subcommander, I'll take it in my ready room, Ensign Praggalda."

An hour later, Zhaalrin returned from his ready room, and sat down in his command chair, as everyone waited quietly to hear what he was about to say. He thought for a few moments, before speaking. After thumbing a switch on his command chair so that everyone aboard could hear, he said, "We have hereby been ordered by OFACC to seek out the _Covenant_ and all those aboard, using any and all possible means to either capture or destroy it and to either capture or kill those who have gone rogue. If anyone has any objections to carrying out these orders, you have 24 Earth hours to communicate them to me or to other members of my senior staff. We are ordered to depart this system by then. Those who do not want to carry out those orders for justifiable reasons will be free to leave at the first available dropping-off port of call. But anyone who remains aboard after we then depart will be expected to do their duty according to our orders."

Dozens of those serving aboard the _Dragonstar_ asked for transfers shortly thereafter. The ship soon docked at a designated space station to allow personnel to leave it. When it finally left that station, it was nearly staffed fully with just over 700 beings aboard it, most of them being organic sentient beings. And then they began searching for any clues that might possibly lead them to where the _Covenant_ might be in the Galaxy.

For the next few weeks, the _Dragonstar_ searched for any clues, signs, or news that might give them useful information as to the present whereabouts of the _Covenant_ and those aboard. But they had no success in gaining any information at all.

* * *

Meanwhile, as the _Dragonstar_ and assorted other ships presently under the control of OFACC searched for the _Covenant_ , that ship was still in transit to their new secret hideaway in a nearby system not well-known of by most sentient species anywhere in the Galaxy. In and near this particular solar system, there were several hazards that would have to be navigated carefully by anyone who was seeking to enter the system. Asteroids, along with large debris fields and minefields left by previous conflicts, were just a few of the obstacles that invaders of the system would have to get past.

From the time that the _Covenant_ left the T'Karala system, it would take nearly a month, even with several periods of travel at maximum warp speed, to reach the solar system they sought along their planned flight path. As they continued towards that nearby system, repairs on the ship continued, as situations then allowed. The journey was not easy. Especially whenever random pirates and scavengers sought to steal whatever they then could from the _Covenant_ during occasional skirmishes. The _Covenant_ 's complement didn't take any lives at such times, even while defending itself during them. Either on various ships or when pirates or scavengers boarded the ship to try and steal what they could from it. But they did disable most ships so that they wouldn't be able to carry out raids against more civilized targets. Such as civilian merchant ships, for example. And they captured several pirates and scavengers, turning many over to civilian authorities. Others, they recruited.

That helped speed the progress of repairs to the ship. But that still didn't mean that it significantly quickened the pace of travel that the ship was able to achieve on the way to its new secret hideaway somewhere in the Galaxy. At most, the _Covenant_ would probably gain a few days of time on their way there, if fortune favored them in any way at all.

Three days before their expected arrival, two ships that appeared to be simple merchant ships met them nearly two light-years away from their new home system's heliopause. They were the _Super Sentai_ and the _Zordon_ , staffed mainly by humans, with assorted other beings also present aboard them. They had been sent to show the _Covenant_ how to navigate the hazards present in their new home system, from the world that would serve as their home base in it.

The _Super Sentai_ led the way into the system, while the _Zordon_ acted as a rear guard of sorts for the three ships, and the _Covenant_ followed the _Super Sentai_ , for just over one Earth day, until their two escorts peeled off to carry out other tasks they'd normally attend to in the system. That left the _Covenant_ alone, and they were ordered to the system's fourth planet, a world given the code name "Shofar," although that was not its actual local name. Whereupon, once there, they would enter orbit and send a small away team down to the planet to meet with several other beings now there in their new group's home base.

That home base was still in the process of being completely constructed, but work on it had begun about a year earlier, once the uncharted system had been unexpectedly discovered after assorted major battles all over the Galaxy. Ships had come from all over the Galaxy to areas near that system without even expecting to. And most of those ships had ended up in the system, after they discovered the existence of it. At first, appearances in or near the system were completely random, unplanned, and unexpected. But as even more battles were fought all over the Galaxy, certain ships and crews were able to gain increasingly easier access to the entire system than others could by choice, for certain yet-unknown reasons.

By the time the _Covenant_ saw its first escorts leave its sides, there were now several hundred ships in the system, with nearly ninety percent of them being ships with maximum capacities of no more than about sixty people on average, if even that many. They followed six small shuttles to Shofar, most of them appearing to be of Federation design, but not all of them. They couldn't recognize the designs for two of the shuttles at that time, however.

Proceeding through the system at 8,000,000 miles an hour, on average, after being ordered to Shofar and their primary escorts had left them, the journey there took just shy of 44 hours to complete, before they entered orbit as planetary traffic controllers directed them to when they were within transporter range. After doing so, they were ordered to remain in standard orbit until further notice, having actually arrived several hours earlier than they'd been expected to arrive there.


	3. Hiding Out

Novus Catrebius System

Milky Way Galaxy

Unknown Quadrant

March 3, 2380

1400 Hours, Ship's Time

* * *

Several hours after arriving in orbit of Shofar, Dylan and several members of his senior staff were in the Transporter Room 1, preparing to beam down to the planet. But staying behind, to look after the ship, was the ship's Chief of Security Rodyvi Lanulzox, even though he was native to the solar system, as the highest ranking officer after Dalin Zevaa on the ship. Those who would be accompanying Captain Munro down to the planet were Shonkor, Nirun, Zevaa, the _Covenant_ 's Chief Medical Officer Aikurmosa C. Barrett, and several security officers, this time around. Everyone else would remain aboard the ship until further notice, by order of Captain Munro, firmly backed up by Shonkor's well-earned reputation for often throwing insubordinate personnel into the _Covenant_ 's brig without prior warning.

At the moment, everyone going was well-armed, even the Doctor. For Captain Munro, while the ship had still been in transit to the Novus Catrebius solar system, had received several heavily-coded and heavily-encrypted secret reports from Shofar detailing various forms of flora and fauna present on several inhabited worlds of the system, plus general cultural information about various societies present on them all. At least at first, it would be seen as a sign of great weakness for those not native to the system to be sufficiently unarmed, and most especially when they were anywhere at all on Shofar. And at present, seeing as the _Covenant_ and most of its current crewmembers were definitely not native to the system, Munro took that fact well into account when he chose his away team for the first visit to Shofar. Everyone going had at least two visible weapons on their persons, and between two and 28 hidden within their uniforms, coats, armor, or equipment. Especially Shonkor and two other Klingons in the away team, with Shonkor having 32 anywhere on his person or in his equipment, the most of all those on the assembled away team, by nine.

Dylan had a long sword with a scabbard hanging from his left hip, and a phaser holstered on his right, with a multiple-mode rifle slung on his back over a knee-length tan-colored trenchcoat reminiscent of ones often seen in old Hollywood movies from the 1940's and 1950's on Earth. Inside that coat, there were several pockets for assorted weapons and/or ammunition he could use for his rifle whenever and if necessary. All those pockets were currently loaded to their respective limits with weapons or ammunition, as he'd then chosen to load them all. In all, Munro currently had thirteen actual physical weapons on his person and enough other items to create up to four others if needed at present.

Sezet wanted to come along as part of the away team this time around, seeing as she was native to Shofar. But Munro told her he needed her more aboard the ship at the present time to talk with other ships in the system. So she accepted that, even though she was a bit disappointed that she wouldn't be going down to the planet now for a little while.

And she did share at least some information that most people who weren't actually from the Novus Catrebius system might not generally know in their lives. For instance, she told Munro and all those going with him now about certain cultural practices that they might not yet know about well enough, to at least some degree, for their mutual benefit. And where safer areas to be in certain places all over Shofar were, especially in terms of certain major cities on its surface, as well.

After getting a fairly detailed report about any number of things related to Shofar from Sezet, the away team's members began beaming down to Sipecinis in the Shofarian nation of Wonstip Twesuas, in two stages, each stage consisting of seven people at a time. Nirun and Barrett accompanied Munro and four security officers down to the planet in the first stage, while Shonkor and Zevaa accompanied the last five security officers down in the second stage.

They all materialized on a large irregularly-shaped hill in front of the gates to the compound where their main headquarters would be in the Novus Catrebius system, about four thousand feet away from them, on a irregularly sloping ledge about four hundred feet, on average, below those gates. As soon as they all realized that, Shonkor said, "I see we might have to try scaling this hill to reach the gates above our heads easily enough and safely enough here. And I see there are a lot of places that pose potential dangers to us on this hill already, either from the compound or from the terrain, as well." Currently, everyone on the away team was not in any danger, but they would still be challenged by potential obstacles, whether by beings of any kind or by inanimate objects, as they each approached the compound, in any case. Once they each started moving to a considerable enough degree, they'd all ultimately have to begin dealing with them in due time.

"Anything else, Etok?" asked Dylan.

"There are areas where we may be able to go which might allow us to find another way to gain access to the compound easier, I think. But getting to them may be a bit of a challenge for us," answered Shonkor, moments later.

Zevaa thought for a moment, and said, still keeping a thoughtful look on his face, "Sezet said that we would have to inform the people in the compound that we had arrived safely on the planet not long after beaming down to begin the required security procedures for non-native visitors to the system. Otherwise we'd likely be considered as potential invaders to it and to its worlds, especially Shofar, in this case."

"Good point, Dalin Zevaa," said Centurion Tellau Nirun, as she quickly readied one of his visible weapons for imminent use.

"Then let's get this show on the road, so to speak, everyone," Munro said, readying his phaser while doing so, drawing it with his left hand, as he tapped his combadge with the other. "Shofar Command, Captain Munro reporting in. Fourteen turtles have begun their pilgrimage now."

"Acknowledged, Captain. Let the challenge begin, and let's see how many turtles reach the Tabernacle, if they can. You were briefed as needed on the required security procedures, were you not?"

"We were, yes," answered Munro.

"Then remember not to deviate from them needlessly, or else you and your people may not be safe from unnecessary harm, of course. Stay within any of the corridors shown on your tricorders, and we will not have to possibly use potentially lethal force against any members of your away team. Shofar Command out."

As soon as Shofar Command closed the communications channel, Munro and Shonkor quickly directed their companions as they saw fit, before splitting them up as desired, so that they might be able to approach the compound from multiple directions at the same time. That done, Munro went one direction with six members of the team, and Shonkor took the remainder of the team in another.

Minutes later, Munro's team encountered the first of several dozen obstacles, many of them non-sentient in nature, with most being various animals native to Shofar. Dealing with those obstacles took an hour for Munro's half of the team, with dozens more to soon follow.

As Munro's half of the team battled those obstacles, Shonkor's half had easier times with their first potential obstacles on their ways to the compound. Of course, they all stayed within the corridor, but for two of them, it wasn't as easy for them to do so as it was for others on their half of the team.

Both halves of the overall away team arrived at the gates of the compound within eight hours after beaming down, with Shonkor's half arriving outside them about twenty minutes before Munro's half did. Both halves had dealt with many difficult obstacles, but Shonkor's had faced much heavier opposition due to the quite significant fighting expertise shown by Shonkor, Nirun, and two of the security personnel then with Shonkor's half of the team. The away team's members all met at the gates and formed up behind Munro and Shonkor, and then Munro and Shonkor knocked on them as required with two of their visible weapons.

Two minutes later, the gates opened, to let the away team into the compound. They were met at the gates by two gatekeepers, who soon escorted them into the main headquarters building for the compound, codenamed the Tabernacle by Shofar Command. It was about the size of an average 20th Century professional baseball stadium, more or less, as far as Munro could tell well enough at the present time. Assorted other buildings were arrayed all over the rest of the compound, most within half a mile at their nearest points to it, on average.

Entering the Tabernacle, they were brought to Fleet Admiral Nukik Sern, a male of about 60 Terran years of age, but who looked as if they were only in their late forties in Terran years, more or less. Sern mostly had Romulan physical characteristics for himself, but almost undetectable traces of potential Klingon and Cardassian ancestors were also present in his current appearance, as evidenced by the slight forehead ridges and minimal spoonlike details on his forehead bisecting those forehead ridges. His ears were not as pointed as the average Romulan's might be, as a result of his slightly mixed genetic heritage, nor were his brow ridges as pronounced as they often were for Romulans. Sern said, "Welcome, Captain Munro and company," as they met him in the front lobby of the Tabernacle, which he was often known to appear in at random times, so as to periodically communicate with various officers and enlisted personnel serving in the compound, mainly to get to know them better whenever possible in their lives and his life.

"Thank you, Fleet Admiral Sern," answered Munro, as he led everyone in a Romulan-style salute, as a sign of respect to the Fleet Admiral. Sern smiled, and then led them deeper into the Tabernacle, and most specifically to his office in it. At the doors to his office, Sern said that he wanted to speak with Munro, Shonkor, Nirun, Zevaa, and Barrett privately, and that the security officers would have to leave them alone for a while. For important matters would have to be discussed, and they could not be as long as the security team was with the aforementioned five senior officers and Sern.

So Munro told the security officers to enjoy themselves until further notice, anywhere in the compound, as they saw fit and were able to. That done, Sern ushered them all into his office. Most took seats in available chairs or couches of assorted styles and appearances, but not Shonkor, who remained standing not far from one of the three doorways currently seen in the office. Specifically the doorway that they'd just passed through, in fact, for security's sake, at least.

Sern offered everyone drinks, but Munro said, "Fleet Admiral, we have a standard policy aboard ship that the consumption of alcoholic beverages by ship's personnel is strictly limited to certain occasions primarily of a religious or cultural nature, or if one is incapable of drinking water for various possible reasons, whatever those reasons might be, at least when one is currently on-duty. For we have a few beings on board who require alcohol to function instead of water like most known biological lifeforms do. In those cases, we do permit the consumption of alcohol at certain times. But generally, as a rule, we strictly restrict consumption of alcoholic beverages aboard the _Covenant_."

"But you are not aboard your ship now, are you, Captain?"

"No, sir, we are not, but we are still on-duty, in my eyes. Therefore, I will stick with the _Covenant_ 's standard policy here regarding such consumption, at least until further notice. Especially in my case, for sure."

"I do not understand, Captain."

"What I am about to tell you does not leave this room, Fleet Admiral."

"Very well. Computer, recording devices off, and also both completely secure and soundproof this room, until further notice."

"Acknowledged," said a voice with an gentle-sounding British-style accent to it, from somewhere near Sern's seat behind his desk in the room.

"My crew and officers may already know this, or at least most of them do by now, if I am not too mistaken here," said Munro, once Sern indicated all necessary security and privacy protocols had been engaged here as appropriate and all.

"Continue."

"You have seen my official Starfleet record, I would gather, by now?"

"I have, but there is much about you not mentioned in it, if I get your drift here sufficiently well?"

"That is true. There is much about me that is not in my official record."

"Continue, then."

"I do not drink alcohol, and never have, and never will. That is a detail not mentioned in my official record. As is much of what I am about to tell you here, as well."

"Go on."

"You are aware that I once had a wife, are you not?"

"It is mentioned in your record. And that she died after a shuttle crash. There is not much mentioned in relation to said crash in your record, unfortunately, though, as far as I have seen of it so far."

"Then let me elaborate, Fleet Admiral. The day of the flight, the shuttle pilots had both been going out and drinking and all, but people didn't know this before the crash. This happened while I and many others then aboard the _Covenant_ were far from Earth on a mission for Starfleet, and while I was still a Lieutenant. My wife had been carrying twins at the time, and she was still several weeks away from her expected due date, at the time of the crash. The doctors and nurses at the medical center where she was brought all tried to ensure that she'd somehow live long enough for me to actually be able to return to Earth in time to see her again. But a week before I and the _Covenant_ were finally able to return to the Sol System, they had to induce labor, to potentially save the lives of our twins. She fought very hard to stay alive. Although she spent almost all the time since the crash lying severely comatose where they took her after it, for sure, from what I later learned, hoping to increase the chances of our twins surviving post-birth, even if she didn't. But her injuries suffered in the crash ultimately meant her death, while still in the process of childbirth. Long story short, that is largely why we have the alcohol-related prohibitions aboard ship that we do, at least in terms of those who are on-duty at any particular time, except where otherwise necessary and possible and appropriate enough. If not entirely why. So therefore, I cannot and will not accept your offer of an alcoholic drink, either now or at any time in the future, most definitely. Even though it's generally expected, at least as a recognized social etiquette practice in situations like this, I will not and cannot accept such an offer. And even though my officers may not be so against the idea, in at least one or two cases here, they still recognize my thoughts about alcoholic beverage consumption while on-duty, and respect them. Therefore, as much as they might not be opposed to the idea of drinking them here, they will not drink such drinks here, unless I let them do so, as a matter of honor and respect to me and my thoughts about such things and about my deceased wife."

"Very well, then. I shall not ask you again if you want any alcoholic beverages of any kind in the future, if and whenever I can avoid doing so, for sure, Captain."

"Thank you, Fleet Admiral. All right, seeing as that is settled here, let's get down to spinning our shells and planning out the next several weeks or months for the _Covenant_ and its crew, please, if you don't mind?"

"Spinning our shells?"

Shonkor said, "Captain Munro means, in essence, let's get busy with repairing, restocking, and restaffing the entire ship, as best as possible and as quickly as possible, Fleet Admiral, if there's nothing else to do besides doing that. Including potentially also planning out several possible future missions, for that matter, either in this solar system or not."

"I see," said Sern, shortly thereafter. "Very well, then, Captain." For the next three hours, Sern and Munro planned out the tasks that those aboard the _Covenant_ would attempt to carry out for the next several days or weeks, at the very least, whether they were done aboard the ship or anywhere in the entire solar system. They also planned a moderately extensive shore leave schedule for those aboard the ship until such time as they might then be required to depart the system for any reason whatsoever in the near future.

After they had done this for a while, Munro and his fellow away team members soon rejoined each other, and returned to the ship. Over the next few days, at most, everyone aboard the ship had been able to spend at least a few hours apiece down on Shofar. Even Sezet, which pleased them all to varying degrees of satisfaction and all, most definitely.

Sezet took the opportunity during her first trip down to Shofar to spend some time with her family and several close friends for a while, and thoroughly enjoyed herself in the process of doing so. Although she couldn't spend more than about a Terran-length day or two doing so, before having to return to the ship so that others could also enjoy some shore leave as well, in any case.

While everyone aboard the ship periodically visited many of the inhabited places all over the system, especially on Shofar or its moons, the ship began undergoing substantial needed repairs, refitting, restocking, restaffing, and repainting, as time then permitted and warranted anywhere in the entire solar system. The ship, when it ultimately left the Novus Catrebius system, would definitely not be exactly as it was when it had earlier entered it.

Also, many of the civilians on the ship from before disembarked from it down to several of the inhabited worlds. And they were soon replaced by many officers and enlisted personnel from them or from signatory members of the Omega Force Alliance. At least for the most part, those officers and enlisted personnel came from the armed forces of those members, anyway, but not entirely. Certain others also came from any number of other places, whether well-known or not, anywhere in the Milky Way Galaxy or elsewhere in the known Universe, as the case might be for each of them, at various times. Some even came there periodically in then-unknown ways, or for yet-unknown reasons of any possible kind.


End file.
